The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill was passed by a voice vote in Rajya Sabha amid unprecedented bedlam on Thursday night.
Seeking to buy time, the Congress high command appears to be toying with the idea of having a deputy chief minister and Pradesh Congress Committee chief in Andhra Pradesh from Telangana region amid a growing clamour for a separate state
Political Joint Action Committee chief Professor Kodanda Ram says that there is no way in which this agitation is going to stop.
Telangana will be possible if four major issues are resolved, according to a note circulated on Telangana to the Group of Ministers.
Denying allegations of orchestrating the latest delay in the formation of the Telangana state, Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress is going all out portraying the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi as the real villains. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The ruling Congress suffered a setback in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday as three Members of the Legislative Assembly from the coastal region quit the party in protest against the bifurcation of the state.
The force "never faced any problem with regard to participation of candidates due to language problems," the spokesperson said.
By announcing Telangana, the Congress aims to kill two birds with one stone.
A series of protests continued in the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh for the sixth consecutive day on Monday against the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance's decision to bifurcate the state for creation of Telangana.
A wave of joy and cheer on Thursday swept the Osmania University, the nerve centre of the Telangana movement, after the Centre conceded to the demand of carving out a separate state from Andhra Pradesh.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday asserted that his party would only accept formation of separate Telangana as a solution to the long-pending statehood issue in Andhra Pradesh.
The movement for a separate Telangana state has taken its toll on the industrial sector in Andhra Pradesh even though chief minister, Konijeti Rosaiah, asserts that agitations will not come in the way of state's development.
Extending its winning run in the south, the Congress on Sunday won 64 assembly seats to form government in the Bharat Rashtra Samiti-dominated Telangana, with the southern solace coming in the midst of a saffron sweep of the Hindi heartland where the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested two states from the grand old party and retained one.
Congress suggestion of a Gorkhaland model of autonomy, has only further angered Telangana activists, who are unwilling to settle for anything short of a separate state.
This was in accordance with the larger strategy of creating a constitutional and political crisis in Andhra Pradesh to force Centre's hand on Telangana state. Of the 119 MLAs of the region, only 77 have sent their resignations so far.
Only after the final bill for Telangana goes to Parliament will the disturbances in Andhra Pradesh subside. Sheela Bhatt reports
The Congress' top leadership decided to rally firmly behind the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh as the party prepares to face the Telangana issue after an official committee submits its report on the statehood issue by this month-end.
Although the Congress leadership and UPA has given its nod for Telangana, the road to the separate state is surely going to be a complicated one, reports Anita Katyal.
Normal life remained paralysed for the second consecutive day in the 13 districts of the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of the state following the bandh call by Andhra Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers and YSR Congress against the tabling of the Telangana bill in Lok Sabha.
Widespread protests, demonstrations, road blockades and rallies were held in several Telangana districts while Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) activists allegedly attacked Civil Supplies Department's godown and burnt vehicles in Mahabubnagar district.
The launch of Jana Sena party by Union minister Chiranjeevi's brother and Telugu movie star Pawan Kalyan may alter political equations in Andhra Pradesh, more particularly in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, days ahead of elections to Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
The ongoing battle in Seema-Andhra is clearly between the Telegu Desam Party and the YSR Congress. Both parties are doing their best to seize the advantage and the misery of the Congress which is now being accused of splitting the state. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Contrary to earlier expectations, the Telangana bill will now be introduced in the Lok Sabha first instead of the Rajya Sabha with the government seeking a fresh recommendation from the President after the Upper House secretariat held it is a money bill.
A deputy superintendent of police, hailing from Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, on Wednesday resigned from service as the campaign for separate Telangana state picked up momentum. While police sources said DSP D Nalini quit owing to health problems, the officer reportedly said in her resignation letter to the director general of police that she was quitting as she could not work under officers hailing from Andhra region.
Satish Jarkiholi has been appointed the AICC secretary in the new team for Telangana.
Of the 16 assembly seats in Telangana, which went to the bypolls because of en masse resignation of the TRS members, TRS could retain only seven seats. Similarly of the four Lok Sabha seats, which TRS resigned from last year, the party could retain only two and other two were shared by the Congress and the TDP. The ruling Congress party wrested five and the TDP bagged four assembly seats earlier held by the TRS.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of acting in an "irresponsible and childish" manner on the Telangana issue and maintained that delay in formation of the state would harm the interest of both Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana region.
A court in Hyderabad on Friday directed the city police to book a criminal case against the 16 Andhra Pradesh ministers from Andhra and Rayalseema region for calling Telangana state supporters 'anti national.'
Brushing aside opposition after dithering for nearly four years, the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance coalition on Tuesday unanimously endorsed creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh.
One person was killed in a landslide caused by heavy rains in Vijayawada city but no other casualties have been reported from elsewhere so far, according to sources in the State Disaster Management Authority.
Normal life was affected on Friday in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh following the day-long bandh called by the Telangana political Joint Action Committee.
'They have no incentive to be part of either the NDA or INDIA at this stage, but they may hedge their bets towards the winning coalition in the post-poll setting.'
Taking exception to Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker N Manohar rejecting en masse resignations of members of legislative assembly from Telangana, Telugu Desam legislators from the region on Sunday said they are ready to put in their papers again.
New Andha Pradesh Congress Committee president and state's transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana, whose appointment has created a stir in the party, has said that there was nothing wrong if Andhra Pradesh was divided into two to fulfil the demand of Telangana people for statehood.
Gorkhaland supporters called for a bandh in Darjeeling for their own state, while Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh threatened to resume the agitation for a separate Harit Pradesh, as the planned statehood for Telangana sparked fresh demands to create new states.
Slamming Union Home Minister P Chidambaram for his comment that political parties in Andhra Pradesh should first make up their mind on Telangana issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday demanded that the Centre should conduct a referendum in the region.
The Centre's decision to create Telangana today triggered further protests in Seemandhra region and a flurry of resignations by union ministers and MPs opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh.
Political crisis in Andhra Pradesh over the proposed Telangana statehood further deepened on Saturday with 20 ministers resigning for the cabinet.
From royalty to a tea vendor-turned-politician's wife and from a first lady to a Bengali actress, the 18 Muslim women who treaded the hallowed corridors of power in the Lok Sabha are an eclectic mix, with each of them having an interesting backstory, but one common thread -- their path to power was always strewn with struggle and hurdles.
The 33-year-old accused, Nossam Mohamed Yunus, was wanted for his alleged involvement in the Nizamabad terror conspiracy case, a spokesperson of the federal agency said
